Here at The Eye of Faith we worship the spirit of individuality. Escaping the everyday, and letting your uniqueness shine is something Andy Warhol superstar Jackie Curtis was no stranger to.

Born February 19, 1947 in New York City; Jackie Curtis slayed the scene with a gender bending style and booming persona that should never be forgotten.

That’s why we’re bringing her from the clutches of the past to the forefront, and it’s no better time, really; gender is undergoing quite a shift in this last decade, and many changes are still abound.

{ J.W. } What interested you about the life of star Jackie Curtis, Craig?

{C.H.} I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which is Andy Warhol’s hometown. My Uncle Sam Highberger had gone to Carnegie Mellon University with Andy and was in some of his classes and talked about him and so I became aware of and I loved Warhol’s art and that whole world. I also loved new wave cinema and without telling my parents I snuck out to these film screenings at Carnegie Mellon of Warhol’s films “Chelsea Girls” and “Flesh”.

And in “Flesh” there is this scene I will never forget, in which Jackie Curtis and Candy Darling, in drag, are sitting on a couch reading a movie magazine and chatting while nearby Joe Dallesandro is getting a BJ from Gerri Miller! I was 16 years old and I mean this was just fabulous to me!

In high school I was very aware of what was going on in New York City, pop art, Max’s Kansas City, the Warhol scene. I knew I wanted to be a part of that. There was a magazine out of New York called “After Dark” magazine that had these really hot photos of Joe Dallesandro, and Jackie Curtis, Holly Woodlawn and Candy Darling by photographer Jack Mitchell. I wanted to go to film school in New York and meet Andy Warhol and the Superstars and that is just what happened.

I was a freshman at NYU the fall of 1972, it was just a few years after Stonewall and gay liberation was happening and the first NYU gay student group wanted the University to allow the group to meet officially on campus and the administration did not immediately agree to this so there was a big demonstration announced – a sleep-in, actually in the basement of my dormitory at NYU and Jackie Curtis showed up for it in his signature drag, because Jackie knew that there would be press coverage and maybe TV cameras and Jackie was a publicity hound. And I was just entranced, I recognized him immediately and introduced, told him I was from Pittsburgh, that I loved Andy Warhol, that I loved him (Curtis) in “Flesh” and “Women in Revolt”, that I was majoring in film and television and wanted to film his plays and performances documentary style.

We became instant friends. And I went around with Curtis to parties, to Max’s Kansas City, we hung out with Holly Woodlawn (who is still a great friend), Candy Darling, and I met Andy Warhol a couple of times.

In 1974 Jackie played the starring role in his play “Glamor, Glory and Gold: the Life and Legend of Nola Noonan, Goddess and Star”, it was off-Broadway at the Truck and Warehouse Theater on the Lower East Side across the street from La Mama directed by Ron Link. And I told Ron I wanted to film the entire play and he allowed me to if I would show it at cocktail parties for his prospective backers. So I did that.

Everything about Jackie was amazing and exciting and I really wanted to make a documentary about Curtis’ life from the moment I met him. I loved Jackie.

{J.W.} How and when did Jackie Curtis meet Andy Warhol?

{C.H.} Jackie told me in August 1967 he and Candy Darling were walking in Greenwich Village and Jackie saw Andy Warhol and Fred Hughes coming out of the Leather Man store on Christopher Street.

Warhol had just bought some leather pants. Jackie ran up to Andy and introduced himself and asked for his autograph on the shopping bag Curtis was toting around. Warhol asked Jackie what was in the bag and Curtis told him it was satin shorts for the tap dancing scene in his play “Glamour, Glory and Gold” which was opening in September, Jackie invited him to come.

Jackie told me he went to the Factory with four tickets and gave them personally to Andy Warhol. He came and afterwards congratulated Curtis, the author and the start of the performance, Melba LaRose, Jr. played the lead Nola Noonan, and Candy Darling played Estelle and was reviewed as a woman. Curtis asked Andy Warhol for a review quote and Warhol said of the play: “For the first time, I wasn’t bored” which they used in advertisements!

{J.W.} Jackie starred in the Paul Morrissey directed film “Flesh”. What was that like for Jackie? How did this film come about, Craig?

{C.H.} Warhol’s “Flesh” was Paul Morrissey’s response to “Midnight Cowboy” which was filming on location in New York City in 1968. Morrissey knew that Hollywood would tone down the subject matter and nudity and wanted to do something more gritty about a hustler (played by Joe Dallesandro) working the streets trying to raise money for his wife’s girlfriend’s abortion – talk about controversy in 1968 – that very concept was designed to stir up publicity and fill movie theater seats, especially with Warhol’s name attached to it.

Warhol and Morrissey already knew Jackie Curtis and Candy Darling and so Morrissey came up with an idea to have them sit on a couch and talk extemporaneously about a movie magazine while Joe Dallesandro is getting a blowjob from Geri Miller practically next to them in the same room!

This was Jackie’s dream, to be in a movie in theatrical release on the big screen, and you bet that Curtis went to every screening and that it propelled him into more self-publicity (I believe this was the moment Curtis had 1000 Jackie Curtis shopping bags printed up which were sold in Greenwich Village head shops)!

{J.W.} Could you tell us about The Jack Mitchell Archives, Craig?

{C.H.} When I first began thinking about making “Superstar in a Housedress” I knew I would need lots of archival photographs of Jackie Curtis, and Holly Woodlawn and Candy Darling, Andy Warhol and the whole crowd. And I immediately thought I need Jack Mitchell photographs, he photographed them more than any other photographer. But how was I ever going to afford license fees? I got on Google and did some research and found that Jack Mitchell had retired in 1995, he lived in New Smyrna Beach, Florida and he did not have a website. So I thought I will offer to do a website for him and to be his webmaster in exchange for the rights to his photographs. And that is just what happened.

Jack and his partner Bob Pavlik came to the opening night of the film at Film Forum in New York and everyone was there, they were very impressed, and loved the film and seeing his photographs in a feature length film in a theater with a packed audience. And the film toured film festivals and we had a theatrical run and it was broadcast on cable and Jack loved it all. It brought him new attention. And I called him and said I know what my next documentary subject is and it is you!

+Jackie Curtis by Jack Mitchell+

I want to do a film about your life and work. And he was very pleased and excited. He put me in touch with people who were old friends and people he had photographed who loved his work that I could interview on camera, like Broadway diva Patti LuPone, playwright Edward Albee, Alvin Ailey dancer Judith Jamison, famed choreographer Merce Cunningham, and many others.

And I made the film “Jack Mitchell: My Life is Black and White” and Jack said that it was the greatest honor of his life. He and Bob came to the opening in New York and they came to film festival screenings and Jack did Q&A sessions afterwards with me and he loved it so much.

About a year later Jack and Bob called me and told me that they had decided to leave me Jack’s archives, the entirety of his life’s work, all the vintage photographs, his negatives and color transparencies, his files and memorabilia, everything. Bob died in 2009 at the age of 77 during an operation. Four years later on November 7, 2013 Jack died just weeks after his 88th birthday. I was there with him when he passed away and moved his archives to a vault.

A few months later I began the full time work of cataloguing and digitizing everything. It is a huge job. Jack Mitchell’s career as a professional photographer began just after World War II, when he moved to New York City and continued for about the next five decades. The negative files are almost 6000 photo sessions and there are thousands of boxes of color transparencies as well. There are 77 boxes of vintage prints. I have been working on it for almost two years and have many years of work left. It is very exciting and I make new discoveries with every box I open and every negative file that I scan.

{J.W.} What was Jackie Curtis’ finest hour?

{C.H.} Jackie Curtis’ finest hour? Any of the countless hours Jackie performed – whether is was in his hit play Glamour Glory and Gold, or Cabaret in the Sky, Vain Victory, or singing at his grandmother’s Slugger Ann’s Bar – Curtis was an incredible star of amazing brilliance. So many people remarked upon his being a genius: La Mama founder Ellen Stewart and comic icon Lily Tomlin among them.

Jackie Curtis had an electric charismatic magnetism that enthralled and thrilled audiences. I loved Jackie. Jackie put all of himself into every performance for the love of the art, and that is why it is really impossible for me to zero in on one performance, one hour, one moment. Now that he is gone, I think of him and a whole kaleidoscope of incredibly beautiful moments of sublime artistry blossom in my mind. As others have said, he was sui generis – absolutely unique.

{J.W.} What will your next book be about, Craig? Any other projects that you wish to tell us about?

{C.H.} I have been working on the Jack Mitchell Archives (cataloging boxes of vintage prints, and scanning negatives and color transparencies) since Jack’s death two years ago. There is a lot of material for my memoirs including several years I spent running around with Curtis. I am going to work at what may be my memoirs, but potentially could take a new form (film or multimedia) because I have the journals, and visual and audio elements as well.

There probably isn’t an aesthetic that struck a chord so controversial in fashion as the notorious 90s inclination towards the new look: Heroine Chic. We are starting to see a bit of a return to this vibe in some of the world’s most prestigious runways, not surprising as the 90s is taking the 21st century by storm these days.

We found this throwback video of a 1997 episode of Fashion Television (I miss you!) on the death of fashion wunderkind Davide Sorrenti who had been one of the industry’s top photographers for this new look.

Taking photos of his friends in New york City inspired by the images of Larry Clarke and Nan Goldin, and coming from a lineage of art/fashion, he quickly became the go-to for this latest look until his untimely death at only 20 years old from . . . you guessed it!

Out of the 80s which was all about glam and excess, Corrine Day in particular, stripped down her editorials to the basics, and instead of big butts, red lips, exaggerated bosoms, and endless hair; she chose young nymph-like beauties with a more natural essence and a bit of grit for a more realistic aesthetic that was really a rejection of the then standard of beauty.

It’s hard to get the joke when you use the words ‘Heroine’ and ‘Chic’ together, and then you think of the deaths of so many talented young people (first supermodel Gia Carangi, actor and E.O.F. Style Idol, River Phoenix, rock star Kurt Cobain, and of course, ‘heroine chic’ proprietor Davide Sorrenti) during this time, making it impossible to reject the realities that this truly was a problem in the industry. However, I think it is a shame to bash the entire industry and pigeon hole this aesthetic and its creators and muses as – EVIL.

After all, in the end – they are images. You take them as you do, and thats that.

“Is Heroine Chic even real?”

That’s a brilliant question Jeanne Beker asks in this clip, and its what I kept asking myself as I watched it. After all, even Bill Clinton had something to say about this trend and its abuse on younger generations who could be susceptible to the cool factor of the fashion industry essentially embracing drugs.

However, it wasn’t the photographers or models or industry people coining the phrase, it was simply a term coined by the media which quickly turned into a frenzy – on the verge of a witch hunt.

There will always be that push against changing times, and interestingly enough today we are seeing the shift realized towards more “full” sized women in the mainstream of the industry. But, in the end, what does that prove?

It is always important to push healthy body image, but honestly, some of these girls (and boys, too) cannot help being that thin, so I always find it unfair this constant scrutiny on body types. Perhaps, the less we made an issue of either end of the scale, there wouldn’t have to be a problem at all.

The truth is we don’t want to accept each other for what we are, which is absolute crime.

In the end, I guess this clip posted initially by Dazed & Confused Magazine really just got me thinking, and would definitely have me thinking for a while. There’s no denying this controversial era absolutely broke down walls in the realm of fashion imagery, and brought a rebellion to the forefront that continues to this day.

Nobody is perfect, and that’s what I think this era really tried to capitalize on in the simplest way.

We were so pleased to have Kristin Archer of local blog I Heart Hamilton come by The Eye of Faith Headquarters to peruse our record collection for her upcoming set at Discography {Session 48} this Sunday at The Baltimore House that we decided to document some of her finds on video, and pick her brain a bit on how she has evolved from doing her blog and radio show to DJing alongside some of the city’s best!

“I came from a very hardened punk background in the late 80’s and early 90’s and my early films really projected that. Of course there have been aspects of the more mainstream-type stuff I’m currently doing that, at first, have been difficult to navigate due to my past. But I’m learning. It’s a very rewarding process and I’m loving it.”

-Johnny Terris

Johnny Terris is one bad ass dude.

A true Renaissance man, Johnny has engaged in roles as actor, film maker, author, model, photographer and painter. Best known for his transgressive, violent punk-influenced films that were far from mainstream, even in the indie sense; Johnny would distribute his earliest on VHS in the streets of Halifax, Nova Scotia, to strangers. He even went as far to use his own blood in scenes!

Legendary for being asked to be Johnny Depp’s double in the early 90s – Johnny, in true rebel fashion, turned it down. Now he continues his work as an actor (AKA Edward Terris) in the TV miniseries “Sex & Violence”, which co-stars Academy Award winning actress, Olympia Dukakis.

The Eye of Faith is honoured to post this interview with a true pioneer of the subversively cool right here in the True North Strong and Free!

Special thanks to our correspondent John Wisniewski for the interview.

JW: When did you begin making films and and acting, Johnny?

JT: I started doing movies around 1987 when I was 14 years old. Basically out of boredom living in a small town. My cousin, who was also my best friend, would film various things typical boys would do and then just decided to make a movie one day. We were heavily influenced by retro horror and grind house style film and my work of course reflected that. I never fit in with anyone in the small town where I lived and neither did he, so doing films were an outlet for us, an expression. When I left home at 16, I became angrier and had an axe to grind with the world, so they eventually became more graphic and explicit and transgressive.

JW: Why did you decide to write an autobiographical novel?

JT: I started writing Sinister Splendor & Broken Glass back around 2002 but shelved it for many years. I originally started to write it for myself only, basically for therapeutic purposes because in 2001, the love of my life became a missing person and was never found so I thought writing about it would help with dealing with it. From there it just kind of spiraled into writing about my life from childhood, my early years on the street doing underground films and present stuff. The next thing I knew I pretty much had a book.

I compiled it together and released the first draft in 2011. It has since changed direction. Instead of an autobiography, it’s now more of a fictional character story that is set in the 1970’s and 1980’s, about a guy named Aaron, that is heavily based on my life instead of being about my life. That’s the third and final draft and the most recent one.

Nobody really knows who I am, and I’m sure most of the world wouldn’t care anyway so I decided to make it fiction that is based on me with characters based on my friends an family instead of the standard autobiography. It made it more interesting to me that way. And I think to others reading it too. The book is still my life, but the characters are different.

JW: Any artists that have influenced your work?

JT: A few artists have influenced me in big way, Richard Kern and The Cinema Of Transgression were probably the biggest influence on me in terms of my own films. Retro 70’s and 80’s horror played a huge part as well. Early Dario Argento played a huge part. Grindhouse flicks, drive-in movies form that period.

From a very young age I was really influenced by a lot of vintage heterosexual porn too like Devil In Miss Jones, Devil Inside Her, Behind The Green Door etc. All the really strange and surreal X-rated films of that period. Early John Waters of course played an influence, especially in my early work.

Musically I was, and still am, obsessed with the NWOBHM/New Wave Of British Heavy Metal from the late 70’s and early 80’s. Bands like Girlschool, Motorhead, Plasmatics/Wendy O Williams, Saxon, Turbonegro, Judas Priest, bands like that. Tight jeans, white t-shirt, spiked wristband, leather jacket wearing, sneering bands. A lot of punk-tinged heavy metal from that period. Listening to that stuff gets me in writing mode immediately.

JW: Do you enjoy acting?

JT: Yeah of course, I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t enjoy it. I’m actually more comfortable in front of the camera being someone else than I am in my personal life. It’s always been that way. When I was a little kid I used to memorize scripts at the age of 9 or 10 years old and perform every character in my bedroom by myself for hours on end. Acting has always triggered something in me, as far back as I can remember.

JW: You once doubled for Johnny Depp. What was that like?

JT: I never doubled for Johnny Depp. I was asked to when I was younger and living in Los Angeles but I was moving back to Canada at the time. I wouldn’t have done it anyway. I have no desire to be another actor, or anyone other than myself.

JW: What is your opinion of Hollywood and Hollywood movies?

JT: When I first went to Hollywood it was nothing like I expected it to be. It was actually pretty grimy and trashy. The Rainbow Bar & Grill was always fun. The Whiskey was fun. I don’t have a problem with mainstream cinema or the Hollywood stuff; it’s not exactly my thing, but being older now I’m not as ferocious against it like I used to be.

I used to revolt against it in a really hardcore way. But I’m currently one of the leads in a television series with Olympia Dukakis (who is an Oscar winner) so I’ve obviously tamed a bit in the old age and don’t care about that as much haha.

Most Hollywood films are formula and neatly packed for selling purposes and because of that it’s the same stuff just rehashed over and over again with a different title, and I personally find that very boring. Hollywood is very loud and explosive and action packed. They make and market their films that way. I prefer psychological films that are slower in tone and make you think.

JW: Are you a horror film fan? Any favorite horror films, Johnny?

JT: Yeah I am a huge horror fan, I grew up on them and they are a huge influence. My mother was a huge lover of horror movies and nothing was really ever censored from me so I was watching stuff like ‘The Exorcist’ and ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ when I was just a little kid. I usually prefer the physiological ones over the gore. I have lots of favorite horror films, though my favorite one would have to be the original ‘Carrie’.

JW: Are you working on any screenplays, Johnny?

JT: Nothing really big right now, no. I’m very slowly writing a screenplay/script which is a greaser-style drama film about two brothers and their alcoholic father. But that’s a work in progress and who knows how that will evolve; too early to tell right now. I am though, currently helping a friend of mine shoot his apocalyptic style film.

As the title of this song says, “All Apologies”!!! Mostly for our truency. Have been having a very busy 2016 thus far, but can’t wait to be back. Got a few things planned up our sleeves, so please stay tuned. . .

In the meantime, enjoy this video, and this classic angsty tune by the King of Irreverence himself, Kurt Cobain. Filmed at Reading Music Festival in 1992, the video was posthumously released in 2009 by Geffen Records.

Oh my god! Those rings though . . .

Check it, peeps. Don’t be afraid to wear what’s tattered and torn. Use it to your advantage and make a layered, irreverent nod to a classic look, but now you’re actually onto something… innovative, too!

If you’re a fan of Lookbook, or have ever had the chance to browse the online showcase of individual styles gathered to help foster the “collective fashion consciousness” that Lookbook is all about. While glancing past looks by a self proclaimed Mermaid from Neverland you are bound to stumble across this true one-of-a-kind Prophet of Fashion.

Just when you thought style couldn’t get more exciting or gloriously out-of-control you will meet Andre Judd. Andre treads the lines of dreaming and reality with a panache and attention to detail rivalling some of fashion’s greats. Time and time again, Andre has proved that the art of dressing is as much an art as any.

This type of talent is rare, and very few can achieve his bold unique punch of imagination, virtual reality, and pure abandon. So, naturally we felt the need to connect with the Stylist, Designer, and Fashion Blogger Extraordinaire who answered a few of our questions on life, style, inspiration, and the unique fashion-forward fashion scene of Manila!

Most of all, we felt Andre was the perfect example of what we here at The Eye of Faith are always harping on about and that’s the courage to find inspiration and be your truest self to the highest extent.

“We see something new. Something exciting”

-Andre Judd.

EOF: There seems to be a lot of excitement and intrigue in the world of fashion in the Philippines. What would surprise or excite people most about the Filipino fashion scene?

AJ: Indeed. Every season we see new bright young talents emerge. These designers score high on the critics and fashion press because they have a refined focus on aesthetics as well being commercial.

I think what excites Filipinos about the fashion scene, is that every season it gets better and better. We see something new, something exciting.

EOF:Where would you say the epicentre of Filipino fashion is right now in the Philippines? Any favourite go-to spots?

AJ: Manila is considered the current fashion epicenter, drawing in designers from different parts of the country, as well as Filipino designers based abroad. There are a lot of cool retail shops and boutiques to check out in Manila. Top of my mind is Greenbelt 5, where a few concentrated stores are found selling current collections from my favourite local designers.

EOF: We love how many looks you create, and your undeniable knowledge for style. Who taught you these secrets? God, or deal with the Devil?

AJ: God. Definitely 🙂

EOF: What has been your most important lesson in life when it comes to your own personal brand of style?

AJ: Never say never. It’s my mantra ever since.

EOF: Creating so many complex and detailed looks must be quite the task. What is your secret to staying focused?

AJ: It’s not really hard. I wake up every morning with a strong idea on what I would wear.

EOF: You mix a lot of items one might typically prescribe as masculine or feminine, and it seems once they get the Andre Judd touch, it’s neither. Instead, it’s a whole new brand of cool. What do you call this?
AJ: Some call it non-conventional, others call it androgynous, but I call it post-modern and irreverent 🙂

“Fashion is about change”

-Andre Judd.

EOF: Interesting shapes, textures, and patterns are essential ingredients to your fashion magic. Do you have any tips on incorporating these ideas into one’s everyday style?
AJ: Try playing with shapes, textures, and patterns. For the novice, one can start with just one different detail. Like if you love black, why not play with colour – lets say fuchsia, and combine it with black. If you like wearing block colors, why not try a printed top? It’s the idea of adapting to new things. After all, fashion is about change. You don’t need to sacrifice your style, you just simply like it to evolve 🙂

EOF: You’ve accidentally conjured up an angry spirit who won’t get the hell out of your closet. You want to call the cops, but you know they won’t believe you so you pull out your exorcism kit and go to work. What is the one thing you are hoping to save from your wardrobe?
AJ: Oh my, toughest question ever. I’d pick my accessories box. You can do wonders to your look just by adding a necklace or a brooch.

EOF: What is your favourite vintage find, and why do you think your devils approve?

AJ: Its my Gianni Versace bomber jacket from the 80s. You wouldn’t believe how super cheap I got it. Its my number one treasured find because its real leather, it has chain mail, looks very contemporary, the color of the leather goes with anything, and it gives an instant edge to any look.

EOF: We have received a lot of botched up advice on fashion in our lives, but we have always stayed pure to what is inside. What is the worst fashion advice you’ve ever been given?

AJ: Men shouldn’t wear women’s clothing.

EOF: For us, fashion is definitely an escape, and the style or look we wear is the story being told. You are an expert in storytelling, with a seemingly eternal well of inspiration. With almost 400 looks on LOOKBOOK, dark we ask – do you have a favourite?

AJ: Every new look I post is my favourite.

EOF: Here at The Eye of Faith, we like to think of ourselves as soldiers marching for a better tomorrow. Are there any causes or struggles in your life that you are fighting for?

AJ: I am a huge advocate of Filipino fashion so as much as I can I like to wear Filipino designers in my looks. That way I can help promote their names in the international scene via LOOKBOOK.

EOF: What sort of things can the readers of The Eye of Faith expect from Andre Judd in the future?

Check it out friends and followers!!!! We’re on the TV!!! GWG TV to be exact . . .

You know, its interesting because Paul and myself (Aaron) were talking just a few weeks ago about how cool it would be if some cool bloggers and/or stylistas would find us and record us for an interview, and as it goes, you put it out there. . . and sure enough, it was only a few days before we got an email from the radical Felicia Mancini of Girls with Gunz asking us whether we’d like to be featured in an interview for their website.

How EOF is that?!

Girls with Gunz is a really exciting and provocative force in the city, and we got the chance to team up with them earlier this year for some secret mission-type stuff (its all still very hush hush), so the questions was truly a no-brainer.

The interview was shot in the shop by the wonderful and outrageous China Corvino who really killed it when it came to batting down the hatches and creating a vid that we are proud to be a part of!

For the first time you can sit down with us and get a little piece of who we are, and the things that inspire us, and what set us off on this crazy wild journey that we now call THE EYE OF FAITH!

Little did the ladies know, they were truly making our dreams come true . . .

Thanks Girls with Gunz, and be sure to check them out too, while you’re at it!

Many props go to our many friends, fans, and followers who have helped get us this far – and many more to those who we have yet to meet who will take us even farther along the path our destiny has chosen for us.

Life is nothing but a series of moments that pass before us. In a blink, they are gone. A whisper in the wind. A forgotten melody that drums in our memory.

Take these moments and package them tight, for you never know when you might need them.

This very wise {Style-Wise} is dedicated to that. After all, style is not as cut and dry as people like to make it out to be. It goes far beyond the clothes we wear, and trickles deep down into our centre where the components of who we truly are stay in constant motion.

Here’s a little inspiration mixed with some simple philosophical points courtesy of the brilliant words of one, Mr. Terrence Malick, who seems to have some magical grasp on words, sound, and image, in a method that transcends the idea of style to whole other level that never ceases to enchant the mind and soul.

Check out this scene from his first feature ‘Badlands’ (1974) starring Sissy Spacek and Martin Sheen as star-cross’d lovers on a crime spree across America in the 1950s.

The film was based loosely on the real life crimes of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate who attempted to live a life outside the mundaneness of their strained small town lives. . .

Starkweather was promptly sentenced to death by electric chair and died June 25, 1959 after a mass crime spree across the plains. Caril Ann Fugate maintained her innocence, and was sentenced to life in prison for a charge of first degree murder. However, after 17 years as a model inmate she was released on parole in June 1976.

“Since this has happened, there’s not a day in my life that has gone by that I haven’t thought about it,” she said of the killings. “There’s times when I think about my family and when I think about them, it’s always what happened. It’s always how they died.”

The statuesque brunette of the classic Detroit girl group, The Pleasure Seekers, and sister to Suzi Quatro, Patti is a triumphant figure who put the power of beauty, style, and girl power to the forefront of our culture, and helped propelled the things we take for granted in our contemporary world.

Thank the heavens for E.O.F. correspondent John Wisnewski, who got the chance to ask this Girl Group maven some questions about her captivating life.

JOHN: What was the first band that you were in, Patti?

PATTI:First band I was in was The Pleasure Seekers, started in 1964 when I was 16 years old and Suzi was 14, in Detroit Rock City. We grew our talent jamming with all our home boys…..Ted Nugent, Bob Seger, MC5, Alice Cooper, Iggy, etc…….all honing our craft as we played the teen circuits together.

JOHN: When did you join Fanny?

PATTI: Joined Fanny in 1973 at Xmas time…….first gig was the Whiskey at which John Lennon saw our debut, and we did “Oh Darling” for him.

PATTI: All our roots bands receive recognition constantly from magazines, interviews, fans, etc…..people who appreciate us forging the road for women. Actually, Suzi and I started the earliest at 14 and 16 in Detroit……earliest heavy rocking all female band…1964. Others started later, and were more soft/girly sounding.

We had that Detroit grit energy from growing up jamming with Nugent, Alice, Iggy, MC5,Seger, etc. We all paved the way…..me and my sister and our roots bands, as well as Fanny. Suzi and I and our bands were recognized in Detroit/Michigan’s Hall of Fame awards last year and the year before.

Hopefully Fanny will be at some point. But, Suzi has had more than a few honours for her contributions.

JOHN: Have yourself and Suzi Quatro ever played any live appearances together?

PATTI: We just played together when she was awarded her woman of valor award from MEOW in March….a huge conference here in austin, Tx and we played together for first time since 1990’s.

JOHN: Of all the performers and artists that you knew, were there any that you were very impressed by?

PATTI: Bob Seger — his humility, songwriting talent.

Jeff Beck — his pure joy of his instrument and support of women musicians in an era when women did not rock guitars and till today.

We are uploading new pieces every week, and keep getting new pieces on the daily to fulfill any style inspiration you could imagine! We are thrilled to have some pieces from Danielle Plester‘s LOST & FOUND VINTAGE collection in the store at 126 James North, and have been posting some key pieces in the {SHOP} since her arrival, so be sure to check it out!

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NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

The Eye of Faith {Vintage} is a brand dedicated to integrating time traveled wisdom from the {past} with the {present} to help shape the {future}. It is an age old symbol of believing in oneself, and having faith in your dreams. No longer must we be lost. We are a burgeoning society dedicated to an alternative to the purchase of affordable fashion forward apparel, accessories, and home decor. We also provide design services and consultation, as well as costume and styling. At our core, we are a source of inspiration and musing.
Please enjoy your time here.
If you have any questions, please email the.eye.of.faith@gmail.com